Royal Caribbean Revitalizes 5 Cruise Ships

Good new for fans of the Royal Caribbean cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean has announced that two more ships will be added to the 3 cruise ships already programmed for extensive improvements and enhancements.

The Radiance of the Seas and Splendour of the Seas join the Oasis of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas for revitalizations planned for 2011 as part of the cruise line’s 40th Anniversary - just a taste of what Royal Caribbean calls “The Royal Advantage”, the cruise line’s commitment to provide guests with the industry’s most innovative cruise ships, exciting destinations and superior Gold Anchor Service to help create an extraordinary cruise vacation.

“The Royal Advantage is our commitment to continuously contemporize and innovate our vacation offering and deliver the highest the standards of guest satisfaction through our Gold Anchor Service,” said Betsy O’Rourke, senior vice president of Marketing, Royal Caribbean International.

“The planned enhancements of five ships in 2011 will help expand some of the most successful programs that we have launched on our incredible Oasis-class ships to deliver these new ‘wows’ to more ships in our fleet. With November 7 marking our 40th anniversary, we are proud to continue to deliver more to see, do, and love than ever before to our guests.”

For information about these improvements, take a look at the latest new pages at Prow’s Edge Cruise Magazine and in particular, http://www.prowsedge.com/cruise-news-royal-caribbean-ship-revitalizations-1109.html

For the official Royal Caribbean web site visit: http://www.royalcaribbean.com

HOW SAFE IS CRUISING - PIRACY AT SEA

Most of us aren’t worrying too much about pirates at sea, unless it’s part of your costume for the fancy dress night on board. But is this a case of sticking your head under the sand? Should we we concerned about piracy at sea?

Pirate attacks on cruise ships are actually very rare.

The first reported attempt of piracy involving a cruise ship was in November 2005 when a Seabourn ship was attacked while sailing off the Somalian coast of eastern Africa.

In December 2008, Oceania Cruises’ M/S Nautica escaped an attack by six pirates in 2 speedboats in the Gulf of Aden. Hapag-Lloyd took precautionary measures that same month by disembarking 246 passengers on the M/S Columbus while it passed through the troubled region.

March of 2009 saw another unsuccessful attack, this time on the Fred Olsen British liner Balmoral, and in April 2009, MSC Cruises’ Melody was fired at as she sailed north of the Seychelles, off Africa's east coast.

Other incidents involving smaller vessels in other regions, like the “robberies” involving the luxury Amazon cruise ship, m/v Aqua last week, are less assiduously covered by the media.

So, is this something to worry about?

Some experts tells us that it is inevitable that piracy attacks on cruise ships, large and small must increase. The fact that cruise lines, especially the smaller ones in isolated areas like the Amazon are reluctant to report many of the incidents is also worrying.

If this issue is a concern for you, it may perhaps be an idea to:

1: Avoid cruise areas popular with pirates. Government alerts and travel advisories will keep you informed. Piracy prone areas include Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malacca Straits, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore Straits, Vietnam, some parts of northern South America, and around Africa:Tema (Ghana), Lagos & Bonny River (Nigeria), Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania), and the Gulf of Aden.

2: Choose a larger cruise ship as these are less prone to attack for obvious reasons.

In the grand scheme of things, however, considering the number of cruises taking place each day in all parts of the world relative to the number of incidents, cruising is still one of the safest forms of vacation.

As a frequent visitor to Prow’s Edge Cruise Magazine told us once - “What’s the point of worrying about absolutely everything? It can get to the point where you will cancel your holiday anywhere tropical because you’re afraid a coconut will fall on your head!”